Orienting apparatus for clothespin wood member



March 14, 1961 M. R. STUART ORIENTING APPARATUS FOR CLOTHESPIN WOODMEMBER Filed Sept. 17, 1959 10 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR MEREDITH R.STUART KAR. CJ.

l LOCKS ATTORNEY March 14, 1961 M. R. STUART 2,974,774

ORIENTNG APPARATUS FOR CLOTHESPIN woon MEMBER Filed sept. 17, 1959 1osheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR MEREDITH R. STUART KARL Loclcs ATTORNEY March14, 1961 M. R. STUART ORIENTING APPARATUSFOR CLOTHESPIN WOOD MEMBERFiled Sept. 17, 1959 l0 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR MEREDITH R. STUART BYKARL :FLocKs ATTORNEY March 14, 1961 M. R. STUART ORIENTING APPARATUSFOR CLOTl-[ESPIN WOOD MEMBER Filed Sept. 17, 1959 10 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR MEREDITH R. STUART BY KARL :FLoccs ATTORNEY March 14, 1961 M.R. STUART ORIENTING APPARATUS FOR CLOTHESPIN WOOD MEMBER Filed Sept. 17,1959 l0 Sheets-Sheet 5 MEREDITH R. STUART BY KAEL (J1-Locas ATTORNEYMarch 14, 1961 M. R. STUART ORIENTING APPARATUS FOR CLOTHSPIN WOODMEMBER Filed Sept. 17, 1959 10 Sheets-Sheet 6"umm"muuu-lullinllllulnn---l l fm.

Oni

u u '1.2mmmun-Immun.-

INVENTOR MEREDITH R, STUART BY KARL Loc s ATTORNEY l0 Sheets-Sheet '7um. B

March 14, 1961 M. R. STUART ORIENTING APPARATUS FOR CLOTHESPIN WOODMEMBER Filed sept. 17, 1959 INVENTOR MEREDITH R. STUART BY KARL (JJ.Loc|cs ATTORNEY March 14, 1961 M. R. STUART ORIENTING APPARATUS FORCLOTHESPIN WOODy MEMBER Filed Sept. 17, 1959 10 Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTORMEREDITH R. STUART KARL J. mans ATTORNEY March 14, 1961 M. R. STUART2,974,774

ORIENTING APPARATUS FOR cLoTHEsPIN woon MEMBER Filed Sept. 1'?, 1959 l0Sheets-Sheet 9 INVENTOR MEREDITH R. STUART BY KAQL :Hocus ATTORNEY March14, 1961 M. R. STUART 2,974,774

ORIENTING APPARATUS FOR cLomEsPIN woon NEWER Filed sept. 17, 1959 1osheets-sheet 1o xNVENToR R MEREDITH R. STUART BY KARL Loc1 s ATTORNEYUnited 2,974,774 Patented Mar. 14, 1961 'thee 2,974,774 ORIENTINGAPPARATUS FOR CLOTHESPIN WOGD MEMBER Meredith R. Stuart, Mechanic Falls,Maine, assignor to Diamond National Corporation, a corporation ofDelaware Filed Sept. 17, 1959, Ser. No. 846,72 7 Claims. (Cl. 198-33)This invention relates to an apparatus for use in manufacturingspring-type clothespins, and more particularly to an apparatus fororienting a stream of wood members for such clothespins by turningend-for-end certain of the wood members preparatory to their finalassembly into clothespin form.

The wood stick members used in manufacturing springtype clothespins arereceived from the woodworking apparatus which forms them inrandomly-oriented arrangement. the final assembly operation in whichpairs of pins are joined together by a spring member to form thecompleted spring-type clothespin, the individual wood members must allbe arranged parallel to each other with the same side of the woodmembers facing upwardly and with corresponding ends of the wood membersall pointing in the same direction. However, when the wood members arereceived from the woodworking apparatus on which they are formed, noneof the requirements just stated are satised; that is, the plurality ofpins are in a non-parallel orientation, and have their sides and endsrandomly oriented.

In the application of Gerald L. Vaughan and Bernard M. Drury for SpringPin Woods Feeder, Serial No. 748,392, filed July 14, 1958, there isdisclosed an apparatus for handling the wood members of spring-typeclothespins to satisfy the above requirements; the present apparatus isan improvement on one part of the apparatus cliamed in said application.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus forturning incorrectly oriented wood members end-for-end while they arebeing transported.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an apparatusfor turning incorrectly oriented Wood members end-or-end, whichapparatus does not require a relatively speed conveyor or the piercingof the Wood members.

In general, spring clothespin wood members are positioned on a mainconveyor in side-by-side relationship with the woods randomly orientedwith respect to their sides and ends. The main conveyor carries the woodmembers past a sensing means which detects wood members having wrong endorientation and energizes an ejecting plunger which ejects theWrong-end-oriented Wood members into the pockets of an auxiliaryconveyor moving in side-by-side relation to the main conveyor insynchronized relation therewith. The auxiliary conveyor includes pivotedllight members which are guided by cam tracks to cause the flightmembers to move from a horizontal to slightly beyond a vertical positionin which the wrong-end-oriented wood members carried by the auxiliaryconveyor flights are flipped back into the pockets of the main conveyorin which they were originally positioned and with proper endorientation.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction. with theaccompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation view of the spring pin woods feeding nadorienting machine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a right-hand end view of the machine of Fig. 1.

in order for the pins to be properly arranged for mounted.

Fig. 4 is a left-hand view of the machine of Fig. 1.

F Fig. 5 is a rear elevation view of the machine of ig. l.

Fig. 6 is a right-hand end view of the machine with emphasis on thedriving mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a left-hand end view of the machine with emphasis on thedriving mechanism.

Fig. 8 is a nenlarged fragmentary detail partly in section showing theWood members being rotated to correct side orientation.

Fig. 9 and Fig. l0 are enlarged views of the left portion and rightportion, respectively, of the machine as illustrated in Fig. l.

Figs. ll and l2 are enlarged views of the left portion and rightportion, respectively, of the machine as illustrated in Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, the spring pin woods feeder and orientingmachine comprises a hopper generally indicated at 1Q to which therandomly-oriented Wood members are delivered from a suitable supplysource. The wood members are delivered to the open upper end of thehopper 10 by a plurality of inclined converging chute members 12 whichserve to orient the Wood members in parallel relation to each other asthey enter the upper end of the hopper. The wood members are deliveredfrom the lower end of hopper 10 to a main conveyor member generallyindicated at 2G. Conveyor 20 includes a plurality of ilights 22, eachliight 22 including a pocket 24 of semi-circular cross section forreceiving one of the wood members.

In order to keep the wood members in a uid condition adjacent thedischarge end of hopper i6 and to further assist in feeding them inparallel relation to pockets 24 of conveyor 20, a roller member 26positioned at the discharge end of the hopper is rotatably driven by amotor 28 (Fig. 5) connected through a V-belt drive member 30 to theshaft on which roller member 26 is Roller 26 rotates in a clockwisedirection viewed from the front of the apparatus about an axis ofrotation outside of and forwardly of the lower end of inclined wall 32of the hopper is substantially tangent to the periphery of the roller.

The rearward Wall 34 of hopper 1G 'terminates at its lower portion in aexible rearwardly curved arcuate wall portion 36. Means are provided forimparting a vibrating oscillatory movement to arcuate wall portion 36and rearward wall 34 to thereby impart a vibratory movement to woodmembers located in the lower portion of hopper 10, as a further aid inmaintaining the wood members in a fluid condition to insure againstjamming of the wood members. The mechanism for vibrating wall portion 36and rearward wall 34 includes an arm member 38 having one end pivotallyconnected at 40 to a bracket 42 integral with the outer surface of Wallportion 36. The opposite end of arm member 38 serves as a bearing for arotating eccentric 44 driven by a drive means to be hereinafterdescribed.

Main conveyor 20 passes around drive sprockets 46 mounted `on a shaft 48adjacent one end of the apparatus and around idler sprockets Sil mountedon a shaft 52 adjacent the opposite end of the apparatus. An auxiliaryconveyor generally indicated at 54 which is used in connection with theend orientation of the wood members, as will be hereinafter more fullyexplained, extends in parallel side-by-side relation to main conveyor2li intermediate the length of conveyor 20. Auxiliary conveyor 54 passesaround drive sprockets 56 mounted on a shaft 5S at one end of theauxiliary conveyor and around idler sprockets 6i) mounted on a shaft 62at the opposite end of the Vauxiliary conveyor.

Both the main conveyor 20 and the auxiliary conveyor 54 are driven insynchronous relation to each other by a drive motor 64 connected by adrive belt 65 to variable speed transmission device 66 which includes asuitable clutching means to permit interruption of the movement ofconveyors 20 and 54 as desired. Variable speed transmission 66 has anoutput sprocket 68 which drives a chain member 70 which, in turn, passesyaround sprockets 72 and 74 which are respectively attached to driveshaft 48 of main conveyor 20 and to drive shaft 58 of auxiliary conveyor54.

As best seen in Fig. 5, main drive motor 64 is mounted on a tilting basemember 76 which is pivotally movable with respect to the stationaryframework of the apparatus about pivot point 77 by means of handlemember 78 to thereby vary the speed of the drive belt 65 connectingmotor 64 to variable speed transmission 66. To control the tension ofchain 70 which drives sprockets 72 and 74, a sprocket 80 is supportedfor rotation by an arm member 82. Arm member 82 is provided with a slotwhich permits the arm to be slidably moved along a bolt member carriedby the stationary framework of the machine in such manner as to permitlthe position of sprocket 80 to be adjusted to control the tension ofchain 70.

In order to drive the eccentric 44 which vibrates lower wall portion 36of hopper 10, as previously described, a large sprocket 71 is mounted onidler shaft 52 of main conveyor 20. Sprocket 71 is connected throughchain 73 to a small sprocket 75 on countershaft 87. A large sprocket 79carried by countershaft 87 is connected through chain 81 to a sprocket83 mounted on. shaft 45 which carries eccentric 44. An adjustabletensioning sprockett 85 may be employed to adjust the tension, on chain81. Eccentric 44 is driven at a high rate of speed by the transmissionsystem just described to thereby mpart a rapid vibratory movement to thelower wall portion 36 of'hopper 10.

Rght-sz'de-up orientation When the wood members are discharged from thelower wall portion 36 of hopper 10, they drop into pockets 24 of flights22 'of main conveyor 20 in parallel relation to each other and to thepockets 24 of the conveyor but randomly oriented with respect to theside which faces upwardly and aiso with respect to the way in which theends of the woods are directed.

In order to obtain right-side-up orientation of the wood members,namely, in order to have the notched side oi:y the wood members facingupwardly, a right-side-up orientation station, generally indicated at69, is positioned a short distance beyond the ldischarge end ofV thehopper. This station includes a narrow disc-like roller member 84supported for rotation at the lower end of an arm S6 which is pivoted atpoint 88 rearwardly of and above roller member 84. A spring member 9Gbiases arm 86 downwardly toward main conveyor 20 yand thus toward thewood members carriedV by conveyor 20. Roller member 84 is positionedcentrally `of the transverse width of the conveyor ights 22 so as tooverlie the centrally located notch of the wood members.

As best seen in Fig. 8, when a wood member having its notched facedirected upwardly is positioned in a pocket 24 of a main conveyor ight22, and thus is properly oriented with respect to the side which facesupwardly, roller 84 passes through the notch -and has no edect on theorientation of the wood member. However, if the wood member ispositioned in pocket 24 with its notched face downwardly, the pressureof roller 84 on the upwardly disposed unnotched face of the wood member,combined with the forward movement of the conveyor, exerts a turningmovement which causes the wood member to turn approximately 45 degreesin a counterclockwise direction about its longitudinal axis while roller84 engages the upper face of the wood member.

Cooperating with roller 84 which initiates the turning movement of awood member having wrong-side-up orientation as just described, is asecond arm member 92 which `is pivotally supported at point 94, arm 92extending rearwardly of its pivotal support with respect to thedirection of movement of conveyor 20 and terminating in a curved endportion 96 disposed a slight distance forwardly of roller 84 withrespect to the direction of movement of the conveyor. The spacingbetween roller 84 and end portion 96 of arm 92 is such that the endportion 96 `of arm 92 becomes in overlying relation to the forward edgeof a wood member slightly in advance of the moment -when -roller 84passes `out of overlying relation to the same wood member.

A spring 98 connected to anV extension 100 on arm 92 biases arm 92downwardly toward conveyor 20 and the wood members carried thereby. Anadjustable stop member 102 limits the downward movement or arm 92.

Theunderneath surface of the curved forwardend 96 of arm 92 is serratedas indicated at 104. TheV serrations of arm 92 engage the leading edgeor" a wood member' having a wrong-side-up orientation which has beeninitially partially turned by roller 84, as previously explained. Sincethe wrongly-oriented wood member is in the meantime being carriedforwardly by main conveyor 20, the result o the engagement of theleading edge of the wood member by the serrated end of arm 92 is` thatthe partially turned wood member is completely rotated until the notchedface of the wood member is right-sideup. With its notched face directedupwardly, the wood member then passes the serrated arm 92, the curvedend portion 96 of the arm passing through the notch of the wood member.

' Right-end orientation After the wood members pass the right-side-uporientation station, the wood members are then all oriented with theirright side up, that is, with the notched face of the wood membersdirected upwardly, and are in parallel relation to each other, but arerandomly oriented with respect to the direction in which the ends of thewood members point. It is necessary for the'ultmate Vassembly of thewood members into spring clothespins that all of the wood members havetheir corresponding ends pointing in the same direction. The apparatusherein described arranges the wood members so that the thin or taperedend of each wood member lpoints away from the auxiliary conveyor 54.

In order to detect the wrong-end-orientation of the wood members, amicroswitch 106 hasta sensing member 107 which is positioned inoverlying relation to the main conveyor 20 adjacent the edge disposedaway from auxiliary conveyor 54 at a height such that the microswitch isactuated when a wood member having the wrong end orientation passesbeneath it. That is, a wood member whose thick end is disposed towardthe rear of the machine (the side away from auxiliary conveyor 54) movesmicroswitch 106 to actuated position, whereas a wood member whose thinend passes beneath the microswitch sensing means does Ynot actuatemicroswitch 106.

Microswitch 106 is connected in series with solenoid 108 of awood-ejecting mechanism generally indicated at 110. Wood-ejectingmechanism 110 includes a plunger member 112 which is biased by springs114 to nonejecting position. The sensing iinger 107 of microswitch 106is so positioned and adjusted that it senses the end orientation of thewood members, the axes of which lie in that plane extending transverselyof the path of movement of conveyor-20 in which in the axis of plunger1-12 of the wood-ejecting mechanism lies.

When solenoid 108 is energized due tothe detection by sensing means 107of a wood'member having wrongend-orientation, plunger 112 is movedagainst the force of springs 114 into engagement with the woodmemberhaving the wrong-end-orientation. Plunger 112 ejects the wood memberfrom the pocket 24r of main conveyor Hight 22 and into an aligned pocketof auxiliary conveyor 54 which moves side-by-side with main conveyorKY20 in synchronized relation therewith; Y

In order to insure that solenoid 108 can be energized only when a ightof main conveyor yis properly aligned with the plunger 112 ofwood-ejecting mechanism 110, and is not energized while the nights of'the conveyor are moving into aligned position with respect to theWood-ejecting-mechanism, a rotary cam member 116 (Fig. 5) is mounted onidler shaft 62 of auxiliary conveyor 54. A pivoted lever member 118mounted adjacent cam member 116 has a cam follower 120 which rides oncam 116 and opens and closes the series circuitwhich includes solenoid108 and microswitch 106 in synchronism with movement of conveyors 20 and54 in such manner that solenoid 106 can be energized only when a flight22 of main conveyor 20 is properly aligned with plunger 112 ofwood-ejecting mechanism 110.

Auxiliary conveyor 54 includes a plurality of pocketed ight members 124each of which is pivotally supported as at 126 with respect to theauxiliary conveyor adjacent the lateral edge of the auxiliary conveyorfacing main conveyor 20. The opposite end of each of the pivotallymounted flights of the auxiliary conveyor carries a cam follower 128which rides during the entire movement of flight members 124 between apair of cam tracks 130 and 132 which extend in -an endless path abovethe upper run of auxiliary conveyor 54 and also beneath the lower run ofthe conveyor. Thus, ight members 124 are guided for movement duringtheir passage along both upper and lower runs of the auxiliary conveyor.The path of cam tracks 130 and 132 is such that the ght members 124 ofthe auxiliary conveyor lie in the same horizontal plane as the flightsofthe main conveyor adjacent the wood-ejecting station 110 whereby awood member ejected from a flight 22 of the main conveyor can movedirectly into the pocket of an aligned ight on the auxiliary conveyor.

Immediately following the wood-ejecting station in the direction oftravel of the conveyors, cam tracks 130 and 132 move vertically upwardlyand laterally across the upper run of the auxiliary conveyor toward mainconveyor 20 to cause the pivotally supported flight members 124 to movefrom a horizontal to a vertical position and then slightly beyond avertical position to cause a wrongend-oriented wood member carried byany one of the ights of the auxiliary conveyor to be correspondinglymoved to a position beyond the vertical in which it tips over and fallsback into the same iiight of main conveyor 20 as that in which it wasoriginally positioned before being ejected.

Since the wood members sometimes fall back into the pockets of mainconveyor 20 from auxiliary conveyor 54 with their notched facesdownwardly, it is necessary to provide a second right-sde-up orientationstation along the path of the main conveyor beyond the point at whichthe auxiliary conveyor discharges the Wood members back into thepocketed ights of the main conveyor.

The second right-side-up orientation station is generally indicated at121 and is identical with the first station 69 for that purposepreviously described in that it includes a pivoted spring-biased rollermember 84 which partially rotates woods having wrong-side-oricntation,and a spring-biased arm member 92' having an end portion which isserrated and which completes the turning of a wood member havingwrong-side orientation. The details of the two turning members 84' and92 will not be described since they are identical with the similarmembers 84 and 92 at the tirst right-side-up orientation station 69previously described.

In order to receive the wood members which are being discharged frommain conveyor 20, a pick-up conveyor generally indicated at 140 isprovided adjacent the end of the upper run of main conveyor 20. Pick-upconveyor 140 includes two pick-up belts 142 and 144 posi-A tionedadjacent the opposite edges of main conveyor 20. Conveyor belts 142 and144 pass at one end around idler pulleys 146 carried by an idler shaft148 and at their opposite end around pulleys 150 carried by shaft 152. Adrum member 154 is attached to shaft 152 a conveyor belt 156 driven fromsome exterior point not shown on Ithe drawings passes around drum 154 torotate shaft 152 and consequently serve as a source of driving power forpick-up conveyor 140. Wood members pass from the discharge end of maincanveyor 20 onto pick-up conveyor 140, and are passed by pick-upconveyor 140 to conveyor belt 156 which carries them to some Vdesireddestination.

Summary of operation In the operation of the spring pin Woods feederapparatus hereinbefore described, the randomly oriented wood members aredelivered from an external source to the chutes 12 which deliver thewood members to the open upper end of hopper 10,"chutes 12 serving toarrange the wood members in parallel relation to each other as they fallinto the hopper. The woods are delivered from the lower end of hopper 10into the semicircular pockets 24 of tlights 22 of main conveyor 20. Thewood members within the hopper are kept in a fluid condition for feedingto conveyor 20 by roller member 26 positioned adjacent the lower end ofhopper 10. Roller member 26 also aids in delivering the wood members inparallel relation to flights 22 of conveyor 20. Roller 26V is drivenfrom a separate drive motor 28 through a V-belt drive 30.

In order to further assist in the feeding of the wood members fromhopper 10 to conveyor 20, end wall portion 36 of the hopper is vibratedby the arm member 38 driven by eccentric 44. Eccentric '44 is drivenfrom idler shaft 52 of main conveyor 20 through sprockets 71, 75, 79 and83.

Main conveyor 20 is driven -by main drive motor 64, through drive belt65, variable speed transmission device 66, chain member 70 and drivesprocket 72. Chain member 70 also drives auxiliary conveyor 54synchronously with main conveyor 20 through sprocket 74.

Wood members discharged from the lower end of hopper 10 into the pockets24 of main conveyor 20l are randomly oriented with respect to the sidewhich is upwardly disposed and also with respect to the direction inwhich the ends of the wood members are pointed. In order toproperlyorient the sides of the wood members so that the notched sidesthereof are facing upwardly, the wood members are carried by conveyor 20past a right-side-up orientation station 69 which includes a disclikespring-biased roller member $4 and a pivoted arm member 92. Roller 84passes through the centrally located notch of V'a WoodV member whosenotched side is upwardly disposed and has no elect on such wood members.However, a wood member whose notched face is disposed downwardly isrotated approximately 45 degrees 'in a counterclockwise direction due tothe turning movement produced by the combined effect of the pressure ofroller 84 and the forward movement of main conveyor 20. The wood memberwhich has been partially turned by roller 84 is then engaged by theserrated edge of pivoted arm member 92 which completes the turning ofthe wood member having wrong-side-orientation so that its notched faceis disposed upwardly.

The wood members, now `all yarranged with their notched sides upwardly,pass by a wood-ejecting mechanism including a plunger 112 which isnormally spring-biased to non-ejecting position but which is actuatedinto Wood ejecting position when solenoid 108 is energized by theactuation of microswitch 106. The

sensing element 107 of microswitch 106 detects the thick` end of `a woodmember having wrong-end orientation toV thereby actuate the microswitch.When plunger 112 is moved to ejecting position by the energization ofsolenoid 108, it ejects the wood member having wrong-end orientationfrom pocketed ight 22 of main conveyor into ight member 124 of auxiliaryconveyor 54. The

ight members 124 of the auxiliary conveyor are pivoted at their endadjacent main conveyor 20 and have a cam ,follower 128 on their oppositeend which cooperates with cam tracks 130 and 132 to move the pivotedight members 124 from the horizontal position in which they receive thewood members from main conveyor 20 to slightly beyond a verticalposition in which they discharge or ip the Wood members back into thesame ilight members 22 of main conveyor 20 as that in which they wereoriginally positioned. In flipping the wood members back into theiroriginal ight members on the main conveyor, the ends of the wood membersare reversed from their original improper position.

Main conveyor 20 then carries the wood members, now having their endsproperly oriented, past a second right-side-up orientation station 121which reorients the sides of any wood members which may have beendischarged from auxiliary conveyor 54 with their notched sides facingdownwardly. The Wood members are then delivered by main conveyor 20 toconveyor belts 142 and 144 of pick-up conveyor 140 which straddle mainconveyor 20-on either side thereof. Pick-up conveyor 140 then deliversthe wood members to delivery conveyor 156 which passes around drum 154mounted on driveshaft 152 of pick-up conveyor 140.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made without departing from the spirit of the invention and thereforethe invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings anddescribed in the specification but only as indicated in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is: l

1. An apparatus for properly orienting stick-like members having a wrongend orientation comprising a main conveyor means moving in a horizontalplane and including means for receiving said members, an auxiliaryconveyor means extending alongside said main conveyor means, means fortransferring members having improper end orientation onto said auxiliaryconveyor means, and means acting on said auxiliary conveyor means andelective to move said auxiliary conveyor means from a horizontal to atleast a vertical position whereby members carried by said auxiliaryconveyor means are dropped back onto said main conveyor means withproper end orientation.

2. An apparatus for properly orienting stick-like members having a Wrongend orientation comprising a main conveyor means moving in a horizontalplane and including means for receiving said members, yan auxiliaryconveyor means extending alongside said main conveyor means, saidauxiliary conveyor means including a plurality of flight elementspivotally supported along an edge of said auxiliary conveyor meansadjacent said main conveyor means, means for transferring members havingimproper end orientation onto said auxiliary conveyor means, and meansacting on said pivoted flight elements and effective to move said flightelements from a horizontal to at least a vertical position wherebymembers carried by said pivoted flight elements are dropped back ontosaid main conveyor means.

3. An apparatus for properly orienting stick-like inembers having awrong end orientation comprising a main conveyor moving in' a horizontalplane and including means for receiving said members, an auxiliaryconveyor means extending alongside said main conveyor means, saidauxiliary conveyor means including a plurality or ight members pivotallysupported along an edge of said auxiliary conveyor means adjacent saidmain conveyor means,l means for transferring stick-like members havingimproper end orientation onto said auxiliary conveyor means, and cammeans acting on said pivoted iiight members and eiective to move saidiiight members from a horizontal to at least a vertical position wherebysticklike members carried by said pivoted flight members are droppedback onto said main conveyor means.

4. An -apparatus for orienting wood members for spring-typeV clothespinscomprising a main conveyor means moving in a horizontal plane andincluding means for receiving therwood members, an auxiliary conveyormeans extending alongside said main conveyor means, means fortransferring Wood members having improper end orientation onto saidauxiliary conveyor means, and cam means acting on said auxiliaryconveyor means and efr'ective to move said conveyor means from ahorizontal to at least a vertical position whereby wood members carriedby said auxiliary conveyor means are dropped back onto said mainconveyor means.

5. An apparatus for orienting wood members for spring-type clothespinscomprising a main conveyor means moving in a horizontal plane andincluding means for receiving the Wood members, an auxiliary conveyormeans extending in parallel side-by-side relation to said main conveyormeans, said auxiliary conveyor means including a plurality o-f flightmembers pivotally supported along an edge of said auxiliary conveyormeans adjacent said main conveyor means, means for transferring woodmembers having improper end orientation onto said auxiliary conveyormeans, and cam means acting on said pivoted Hight members and efectiveto move said ight members from a horizontal to at least a verticalposition whereby wood members in said pivoted ight members are droppedback onto said main conveyor means.

6. An apparatus for orientingv Wood members for spring-type clothespinscomprising a main conveyor means moving in a horizontal plane andincluding means for receiving the wood members, detecting means disposedalong the path of said main conveyor means for detecting wood membershaving their ends directed oppositely to the proper end orientation ofsaid wood members, an auxiliary conveyor means moving in a path parallelto and alongside said main conveyor means, means for moving saidauxiliary conveyor means synchronously with said main conveyor means,said auxiliary conveyor means including a plurality of ight memberspivotally supported along an edge of said auxiilary conveyor meansadjacent said main conveyor means, means actuated by said detectingmeans to transfer wood members having improper end orientation into theflight members of said auxiliary conveyor means, and cam track meansextending along the path of said auxiliary conveyor means and effectiveto move said pivoted flight members from a horizontal to at leastavertical position whereby Wood members carried by said flight vmembersare dropped back onto said main conveyor means.

7. An `apparatus for orienting wood members for spring-type ,clothespinscomprising a main conveyor means including means for receiving the woodmembers, detecting means disposed along the path of said main conveyormeans for detecting wood members having their ends directed oppositelyto the proper end orientation of said Wood members, an auxiliaryconveyor means, means actuated by said detecting means to transfer woodmembers having improper end orientation onto said auxiliary conveyormeans, and means cooperating with said auxiliary conveyor means toproperly orient the ends of wood members transferred to said auxiliaryconveyor means, said auxiliary conveyor means including a plurality offlight elements'pivotally supported along an edge of said auxiliaryconveyor means adjacent said main conveyor means whereby Wood memberscarried by said flight elements are dropped back onto said main conveyormeans.

References Cited in the file of this patent Y UNITEDSTATES PATENTS BrunnDec. 18, 1934 2,877,884 Esenvvein Mar. 17, 1959- FOREIGN PATENTS Y675,556 Great Britain July 16, 1952

